It may sound like an insane proposition, considering no defensive coordinator would issue such a dare to Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers. But that could be the New Orleans Saints' No. 1 priority heading into Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins said the Saints have to tighten up their leaky run defense because the Niners will be "coming off the bus running" with their fourth-ranked rushing offense.

This includes slowing down 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who's capable of taking off with the football in the read-option attack. This would make the 49ers more reliant upon their passing game, which is the worst in the league entering Week 10 (173.9 yards per game).

Jenkins said Kaepernick, who led the Niners to the Super Bowl after taking over as the starter near the midpoint of last season, is a great quarterback and he has seen him make all of the throws. But Jenkins also emphasized the strength of the 49ers' offense is running the football.

"You want to make a team beat you left-handed," Jenkins said. "If they're good enough to do that, then hats off to them. I think everybody knows going into this game we're going to have to stop the run."

Making the 49ers (6-3) play "left-handed" has served opponents well in San Francisco's three losses.

"Watch the game last week (vs. Carolina), there was a little bit of pressure," said Jenkins, who should be ready to play Sunday after missing the past two games with a knee injury. "That affected him, but that affects any quarterback. Whenever you're getting pressure, you're not as accurate, you can't go through your reads and (it) makes you one dimensional."

The Saints' pass defense has become a major strength, ranking third in the NFL after only surrendering 199.9 yards per game. So this strategy could play into the Saints' hands as Kaepernick has only completed 56.4 percent of his passes this season.

"It's (still) his first year starting," said Saints linebacker Parys Haralson, Kaepernick's former teammate in San Francisco who was traded to New Orleans in the preseason. "So I think it's just some growing pains that comes along with it."

Two former NFL quarterbacks-turn-analysts have bounced from one end of the spectrum to the next on Kaepernick this season.

ESPN's Ron Jaworski said Kaepernick could become one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history after Kaepernick's Week 1 shredding of Green Bay (412 yards, three touchdowns). But after Kaepernick's brutal outing against Carolina, ESPN's Trent Dilfer referred to Kaepernick as a "remedial" passer when the first read is taken away.

"I think he's doing a great job," Niners coach Jim Harbaugh told the San Francisco media. "He's one of those rare quarterbacks that can come in and play winning football at a very early time in his career. Those kinds of quarterbacks are rare throughout the history of the NFL. He's one of them that can do that. He's done it. There's evidence and he's proven it."

Jenkins said the key is finding the right balance of pressuring Kaepernick, yet keeping him contained in the pocket.

"Kaepernick is usually best when he can run around out of the pocket and extend plays," Jenkins said. "Not just running it, but extending it and throwing it. That's when they get their big chunk plays. What they really want to do is run the ball and control the clock and hit you with play-action. That's usually where their chunk plays come from.

"Once you take those away, you can get pressure on the quarterback and keep him the pocket. Only give him time for one, maybe two reads. That's when you have a little bit of success against him."

Kaepernick misses wide receiver Michael Crabtree, who hasn't played this season because of a torn Achilles tendon, and has been heavily reliant upon tight end Vernon Davis.

His completion percentage with Davis in the lineup is 62.4, but it falls to 47.1 percent without Davis, via ESPN Stats and Information. Davis has caught 78 percent of Kaepernick's touchdown passes (seven of nine) this season. That's 21 percent higher than any other pass-catch tandem in the NFL.

Davis is a question mark for Sunday's game after sustaining a concussion in the loss to Carolina, which could limit Kaepernick's viable passing options to only veteran wideout Anquan Boldin.

So does this mean completely shutting down Frank Gore is the only way for the Saints to win Sunday? Not necessarily. Gore rushed for 81 yards on 16 carries in last week's loss to Carolina and gained 82 yards on only 11 carries in San Francisco's Week 3 loss to Indianapolis at home.

"I think the biggest thing is they rush the ball better than anybody in the league and they present a lot of difficult runs that you have to fit up," Jenkins said. "They're a smart team, they shift, they motion, so they try to mess with your eyes a little bit. You have to get lined up and get ready to play some smash-mouth football."

Smash-mouth football doesn't typically include a potent passing game, but Saints coach Sean Payton still doesn't expect a slumping Kaepernick to repeat his performance against Carolina this Sunday in New Orleans.

"From a passer, I thought he made a ton of strides last year and you saw game after game the confidence he had going all the way to the Super Bowl and you see that carry over this year," Payton said.